Resilient holder or target



March 12, 1940. JQUFFRAY 2,193,727

RESILIENT HQLDER 0R TARGET Filed April 20, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet l iff /P445 ya March 12', 1940. A. JOUFF RAY 2,193,727

RESILIENT HOLDER 0R TARGET Filed April 20, 1959 2 Sheets$heet 2 Patented Mar. 12, 1940 um'rso srArEs PATENT OFFiCE f RESILIENT HOLDER OR TARGET Alexander Jouffray, San Antonio, Tex. Application April 20, 1939, Serial No.. 268,993

Claims. (01. 120-108) This invention pertains to a'resilient holder or I target'and comprises an invention which may be embodied in devices of varied forms, several of which are illustrated. in the accompanying drawings and described in detail hereinafter.

The holder has been primarily conceived to providea novel and improved cushion or rack for pencils, penholders, brushes or the like; but in fact constitutes a holder for any article of tubular or any elongated form and can be well utilized as. a target at which any article of elongated form may be thrown and which will receive and support any such article which strikes it in an end-first position or manner.

The device is such that a firm but gentle gripping and supporting engagement upon an article such as a pencil, pen-holder, a dart, etc., is automatically and immediately provided upon the insertion of such an article into the cushion or holder.

Numerous novel features of construction, the exact nature of which will be hereinafter specifically described, are embodied in the present improved device and the construction is such that an art-icle'having the desired attributes can be produced cheaply yet result in an apparatus which is highly eiiicient and durable in operation.

In the drawings: i

l is a top plan view of an article or device built in accordance with the present invention. 7

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view through Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a View in front. elevation of a second form which the present invention may take:-

Fig. 4 is a side view of Fig. 3, a portion of the view being broken away and shown in vertical section to better illustrate the construction.

Fig. 5 is a View in elevation of a modified'form of the invention.

6 is a view in elevation of a still further modified form of the invention. I

Fig. 6a is a fragmentary top plan view of the device illustrated in Fig. 6 of the drawings.

Fig. 7 is a side view of an additional and still further modified form of the invention.

llig. 8 is a top plan view of Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary view in vertical section of the construction illustrated in Figs. '7 and 8. Referring now particularly to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, A designates a base or housing which is open ended in nature and has its lower end closed by a bottom ill. I

In the particular embodiment of the invention illustrated in these figures of the drawings the base A is ring like in nature so that its upper open end H is circular. The base A is illustrated as being made of wood, but it is to be understood that the invention is'not limited vto this particular type of material and could readily be made of a plastic material which wouldlend itself well to the fabrication of the finished device.

A -pair of holding' screens org'rids designated as an entirety by B and Cextend acrossthe housing in separated and preferably parallel relationship. These screens or grids are of identical construction theexact nature of which will now be described;

Each screen'or grid comprises aplurality of resilient wires l2 arranged in separated parallel relation which are superposed upon a plurality of similar resilient wires l3. ihe upper wires 52 and the lower wires it actually engage one another but arefreely movable in respect to one another. The wires l3 extend in a direction opposite or at right angles to the wires l2 to form a screen or grid-like member having between the superposed wires a plurality of square openings l4 into the interior of the housing A.

As is clearly apparent in ti e drawings, these.

Wires extend completely across the open housing and have their ends i5 actually within the houswhen the wire ends are secured in a drilled or other suitably provided opening in the housing wall a tension will be exerted upon the wire ends which will tend to secure them within their openings under spring tension and prevent them from becoming unintentionally or accidentally disengaged from the housing wall.

The upper and'lower screensor grids being of 1 identical construction, description of one de-. scribes the other, but attention is directed to the fact that each opening in the lower screenor grid is immediately, beneath and in vertical alignment with a similar opening in the upper screen.

In Fig. 2 of the drawings a pencil and a paint brush are illustrated as being supported in the housing by the screens or grids. These articles could have been placed in their illustratdpositions .by manually pushing them through the 1 grids against the tension of each of the four wires constituting the four walls of each of the openings It in which they are positioned, or they could as readily have assumed the positions in which they are illustrated by having been thrown or projected end-first at the screen or targetlike cushion. It will be obvious that any article will be resiliently supported by the grids in either a vertical position or at practically any position at an angle to the vertical or horizontal.

When an article is inserted in the housing through the grids each of the grids will gently and resiliently engage the article at four sides and will gently but firmly hold or retain the article in place.

In the accomplishment of the above described results the superposed and independent movement of the upper wires of each grid or screen in respect to the lower wires thereof is of the utmost importance. This arrangement affords the resiliency and. flexibility necessary to the successful accomplishment of the objects and purposes of the device.

Light resilient contact of the lower wires with the under side of the upper wires of a grid has been found to be desirable but not essential in the accomplishment of the desired results.

Although the resilient holding cushions have been referred to as screens they are not screens in the sense that that word is ordinarily used because the wires of a screen are interwoven. Previously it has been described that the wires of my screen are not interwoven but are in superposed relationship with any upper wire or any lower wire free to move throughout its length between its points of support or attachment to the housing. This means that when an article is inserted in the screen through one of the openings thereof there is no sharp distortion of a wire immediately at its point of contact with the article as would be the case were the upper and lower wires interwoven. All four wires defining the opening within which the article is inserted give or yield throughout their lengths between their points of support and thus gently grip the article at four points as has been described. It is of course to be understood that this lateral play or movement of the wires is of the utmost importance and that the grip imparted to the articles by the wires can be regulated by the tension under which the wires are strung across the housing opening or end. In ordinary practice the tension is suficient to cause the Wires to return to a normal straight line position after an article has been removed from the screen or grid. Preferably, although not necessarily, a fine quality steel wire is used.

Practically all of the description heretofore given is applicable to the several modified forms of the invention which will now be described.

In Figs. 3 and i of the drawings the screen or target is illustrated as being disposed in a ver tical rather than a horizontal plane as is the casein Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings. When the screens or grids are disposed in a vertical plane as is the case in those forms of the invention illustrated in Figs. 3 to 6 inclusive the device is particularly adapted to serve as a target and when utilized in this manner it could readily be an adjunct to any game of skill where articles of tubular or elongated form could be either shot or thrown at the screen and when striking the same in an end-first manner would be retained and supported thereby.

Still referring to Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawings it will be seen that there is a horizontally disposed base D upon Which is supported a ringlike housing or frame E at the opposite sides of which are disposed the screens or grids F and G which like the prior described screens 13 and C are convex in nature with their concave sides in opposed relation to one another so that the screens are curved outwardly in respect to each side of the ring frame E. Each of the grids in this instance are constructed as previously described in that there is an upper series or set of wires 55, above and under set of wires 17. The ends it of these wires are secured in the frame E in the manner heretofore described, namely, that of being inserted into a drilled hole or by being embedded in plastic material in the event the frame E is composed of such a material. The convex form of the screen is obtained in a similar manner to that previously described by making each of the wires longer than the distance it is intended to span.

In Fig. 5 form of the invention the grid or screen is in the form of a sphere or ball designated as an entirety by H which sphere is supported upon a horizontally disposed base J. In the formation of the sphere or ball a main and larger horizontally disposed and circular frame wire it is provided and a second frame wire 20 disposed in a vertical plane is suitably secured to the frame wire 9 at points 28 where they cross one another. The wire 20 is provided with an outward extension 2i into the base J and serves as the medium for securing the sphere in proper position on the base. In this instance there are a series of outer resilient steel wires 22 which are secured to the vertical frame wire 29 at the two points of their contact therewith. There is a set of inner wires 23 disposed at right angles to the aforementioned wires 22 and these wires are secured at their two points of contact with the horizontallydisposed frame wire l9. The disposition of the wires, as clearly appears in Fig. 5 of the drawings, is such that they form a sphere of open mesh-work having a plurality of openings 25 the walls of which are defined by the wires 22 and 23 which wires are yieldable and will grip at four points any article inserted into or through one of the openings.

Fig. 6 illustrates another spherical form of the invention. Here a single frame wire 25 is utilized rather than a pair of frame wires as just previously described. The frame wire 25 has an extension 26 at its bottom having supporting engagement with the horizontally disposed base K. Each of the outer wires 21 in this instance is continuous to form a ring or hoop which is secured at its top to the frame 25 as indicated at 28 and at its bottom to the frame as indicated at 29. Each of the inner wires 30 is of similar form to form a ring or hoop and is secured at its opposite sides to the frame wire 25 at the two points 3i and 32 respectively. The inner and outer wires 2'! and 30 are not interwoven with one another but are free to move or yield throughout the distance between their points of connection with the frame 25, and like the previous forms of the invention the inner and outer wires extend at right angles to one another to form a plurality of openings 33.

Describing that form of the invention appearing in Figs. 7 to 9 inclusive it will be seen that viewing the device from the top it has a square shape but that it could equally as well be made in other shapes and still utilize the present improved 'and hereinafter described constructive features.

A main base is designated at L the upper surface of which preferably is covered with a suitable padding 34 of felt or some similar material. The housing designated as an entirety at M is composed preferably of light gauge metal which has been bent and cut to provide corner legs 35 the lower ends 36 of which extend under and are secured tothe under side of the base by suitable tacks or the like having enlarged heads 31 which are adapted to engage the particular piece'of furniture upon which the device is psitioned. Between the legs the metal comprising the frame has been-cut out to provide at the four sides of the device openings 38 while the upper ends of the legs support the main side walls .39 of the frame which side walls are immediately above the side edges of the base L and thus form a square frame.

Within the side walls 39 of the frame a pair of screens or grids are supported in separated parallel relationship. The upper-most grid is designated as an entirety by N and the lowermost grid by P. Each of these grids like the previously described grids comprise resilient wires arranged in separated parallel relationship. A series of the wires extend transverse the frame and comprise the top wires of a grid anda series of wires extend transverse the frame in an opposite-direction and comprise the under wiresof thegrid. The wires are not interrneshed cr'interwoven and the upper wires are free to move in respect to the lower-most wires of a screen. The disposition of the wires is such in each grid as to form a series of openings 4|! and the openings in the upper screen or grid are in vertical alignment with the openings in the lower screen or grid.

Rigidity is'imparted to the side walls 39 of the metallic frame by providing two wire frames 4! and 42 which are'disposed atthe inner side of the walls 39 adjacent the upper and lower edges thereof and'are secured in abutting relationship to the inner face of the walls 39 by an alternate series of tongues 43 which are bent inwardly and around the wire frames 4| and '42 respectively. These tongues 43 are formed as a part of the sheet metal walls 39 at both the upper and lower horizontal edges thereof, as will be clearly apparent by reference to the drawings.

At their upper and lower edges the walls 39 are provided with a second set or "series of tongues or ears 44 which are alternately positioned in respect to the aforementioned tongues orears 43 and are bent outwardly and into abutting relationship to the outer faces of the walls .38. However, before the ears 44 are bent outwardly the wires making up the upper and lower grids or screens N and P are threaded or trained behind them, in a manner which will be described, so that when the ears or tongues are bent they will clamp the wires in proper posi-. tion. That is .tosay, the ears will form what might be termed eyes through which the wires making up thescreens are threaded.

Inasmu'chas the, manner of forming the ears ortongues and bending them for clamping and supporting connection with the, wire frames 4| and 42 and for locking the grid wires in place is identical inv respect to the cars at the upper and lower edges of the frame walls 39 description of the manner of operation of the ears or tongues at. .theeupper edge .of the frame walls .39 will suflice to describe that of the ears which are carried by the lower edge of said walls.

In the fabrication of the present form of the invention a continuous wire is used for forming the upper grid or screen and a second continuous wire is used for forming the lower screen or grid.

Referringspecifically to Fig. 8 of the drawings and particularly the left hand corner thereof, it

will be seen that one end 45 of the continuous wire forming the upper screen is secured behind or rather under that particular tongue or ear which is designated 46. The wire is then led transverse the frame and'then passes behind and is secured beneath that tongue which is designated 41, from which point the wire passes again transversely of the housing and in parallelism to the former transversely extending portion of the wire and is secured behind and beneath that ear or tongue designated at 48. tinuously led back and forth across the housing in the manner just described until it reaches the ear 49 which, viewing Fig 8 of the drawings, is at the lower right hand corner thereof. The wire thus far describedis'the wire constituting the under portion or under wire of the grid and for the purposes of explanation it is designated in Fig. 9 of the drawings by the numeral 50.

i From this point the wire which is now for convenience in description designated as i, is led across the housing at right angles to and above the previouslythreaded wire. From this point on the wire constitutes the upper wires of the screenor grid and for convenience in description is designated generally by the numeral 52 in Fig; 9 of the drawings.

The method of threading the upper wire is identical to that described in respect to the lower wire as it will be seen that it passes behind and beneath the ears 53 and 54 at the opposite sides of the housing until the wire eventually again reaches the ear 45 and its end 46 is there suitably secured or clamped beneath the said ear 45.

' Forthe purpose of facilitating clear understanding of the arrangement, and referring particularly to Fig. 9 of the drawings the upper wire in the lower grid or screen is designated as an entirety by. the numeral 55 and the lower wire by the numeral 55.

Although thescreen or mesh has been described as being composed of wire it is to be understood that thin resilient rods or other resilient members could be used or that springs could be substituted for the Wire illustrated and described without departing from the invention which is limited only by the following claims.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided a device which is cheap and simple of manufacture yet highly. efficient in operation,and which can when being utilized as a pen or pencil'holder constitute a pleasing desk accessory.

I claim:

l. A device of the character described, comprising a frame, a resilient grid extending across said frame," said grid composed of two sets of resilient wires, one set of said wires extending across said frame in separated parallel relationship, the other set of said wires extending across said frame at right angles to and beneath said first named set of wires and being arranged in separated parallel relationship, and the wires composing said second set being freely movable in respect to the first set.-

2. A device of thecharacter described, comprising a frame, a resilient grid extending across said frame, said grid composed of two sets of resilient wires, one set of said wires extending across said frame in separated parallel relationship, the other set of said wires extending across said frame at right angles to and beneath said first named set of wires and being arranged in separated parallel relationship, a second similarly constructed grid extending across said housing in separated relationship to said first named grid, and the openings of both of said grids being in alignment with one another.

3. A device of the character described comprising a frame, a resilient grid extending thereacross, said grid composed of a plurality of individual wires constituting an upper and lower set, the upper set of wires extending across said frame in separated parallel relationship and the lower set of wires extending across said frame at right angles to said first set of wires and being arranged in separated parallel relationship. the ends of all of said wires extending into openings provided in the sides of said frame, and each wire being longer than the distance between its respective openings and being bowed outwardly in respect to said frame, and the wires composing the under set lightly engaging the under sides of the wires of the first set.

4. A construction such as defined in claim 3, wherein there is a second grid similarly composed, constructed and supported in said frame, said second grid being arranged in separated relationship to said first named grid and having its openings in alignment with the openings of the first named grid.

5. A device of the character described, comprising a base, an open ended frame supported by said base, a grid extending across the opening at one side of said frame, a second grid extending across the frame at the opposite side of said frame, said grids being disposed in a vertical plane and each of them being composed of an outer set of resilient wires extending transverse said frame opening in separated parallel relationship and a second or inner set of resilient wires extending across said frame opening at right angles to said first named set and in separated parallel relationship and lightly engaging the inner sides of the wires of said first set, the ends of all of said wires being secured to said frame at the opposite sides of the opening and being free to flex between their points of supporting engagement with said frame, and the openings in one grid being in alignment with the openings of the other grid.

6. A construction such as defined in claim 5, wherein both of said grids are of convex form and bow outwardly in respect to the frame and its opening.

7. A construction such as defined in claim 5, wherein the ends of said wires are inserted into openings provided in said frame, and the length of each wire being greater than the length between the bottom of its respective supporting openings, whereby the wires are bowed outwardly in respect to the frame and its opening and said bowing of said wires tending to retain their ends within said openings.

8. A device of the character described, comprising a base, a resilient spherical grid, a frame supported upon said base and carrying said grid, said frame comprising a rigid ring disposed in a vertical plane and a rigid ring disposed in a horizontal plane and secured to one another at their points of intersection, and said rigid rings encircling said grid and being secured thereto at the points of intersection of the frame rings with the members composing said grid.

9. A device of the character described comprising a base, a frame wire connected to said base and extending upwardly therefrom, a second frame wire disposed at right angles to said first frame wire and secured thereto at its opposite sides, a spherical grid supported by said pair of frame wires, said grid composed of a plurality of rings each of which is made of flexible wire, a plurality of said flexible wire rings disposed in a horizontal plane in separated parallel relationship to one another and having supporting connection with said vertically disposed frame, a plurality of flexible wire rings disposed in a horizontal plane and in separated parallel relationship to one another, said last named rings being positioned within said first named rings and being secured to the inner face of said horizontally disposed frame and all of said resilient rings being of decreasing diameter in an outward direction from said vertical and horizontal frames respectively.

10. A device of the character described, a base, a rigid frame disposed in a vertical plane and having supporting engagement with said base, a plurality of resilient frames disposed within said rigid frame, each of said resilient frames engaging the inner face of said rigid frame at opposed points and being secured thereto, a plurality of said resilient frames being disposed in a vertical plane and being arranged in separated parallel relationship and constituting outer resilient frames, and a plurality of said resilient frames being positioned in a horizontal plane and being positioned within said first named outer resilient frames and also being disposed in spaced parallel relationship, and said inner resilient frames lightly engaging the inner faces of said outer resilient frames.

11. A device of the character described, an endless wall defining a frame, a plurality of pliable tongues arranged along the edges of said wall, an endless resilient wire trained back and forth across said frame and around said tongues to provide a resilient grid, said tongues being bent outwardly and into abutting relationship with the walls of said frame to secure said wire to said frame, and a second endless wire similarly trained back and forth across said frame at the opposite side of its opening and similarly passing around and behind the ears carried by said frame wall at the opposite sides of said opening, said ears likewise being bent outwardly and into abutting relationship with the frame wall to secure said wire in position, said endless wire making a second grid disposed in spaced parallel relationship to said first named grid, and the ears at the opposite edges of said frame wall being oppositely positioned, whereby the openings in said grids are in aligned relationship,

12. A device of the character described, comprising a light sheet metal housing having oppositely arranged open ends, said housing at each of its ends provided with a plurality of outwardly extending tongues, a strengthening frame within said housing adjacent one end thereof and being secured thereto by bending alternate of said tongues inwardly around said strengthening frame, a second strengthening frame at the opposite end of said housing and secured thereto by bending alternate of said tongues inwardly around said frame, a resilient grid closing each of the ends of said housing, each of said resilient grids made up of a continuous resilient wire trained back and forth across said housing opening and around the remaining tongues thereof, and said remaining tongues being bent outwardly and around those portions of the grid which are behind them and thus securing said grids to said housing with the resilient wires thereof maintained under resilient tension,

13. A device of the character described, comprising a, frame, a resilient grid extending across said frame, said grid composed of two sets of resilient wires, one set of said wires extending across said frame in separated parallel relationship, the other set of said wires extending acrossv said frame at right angles to and beneath said first named set of wires and being arranged in separated parallel relationship, and the wires composing said second set lightly engaging the under sides of the wires of the first set. I

14. A device of the character described, comprising a frame, a resilient grid extending across said frame, said gridcomposed of two sets of resilient wires, one set of said wires extending across said frame in separated parallel relationship, the other set of said wires extending across said frame at right angles to and beneath said first named set of wires and being arranged in separated parallel relationship, the wires composing said second set lightly engaging the under sides of the wires of the first set, a second similarly constructed grid extending across said housing in separated relationship to said first named grid, and the openings of both of said grids being in alignment with one another.

15. A device of the character described, comprising a base, a resilient grid, a rigid frame supported upon said base and disposed in a vertical plane, a second rigid frame supported upon said first named frame and being disposed in a horizontal plane and secured to said first named frameat the points of intersection of said frame, 

